Preserving his one hundred percent unbeaten record in this season’s Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy, Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) outsprinted world cyclo-cross champion Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step Cycling Team) to take round three of the series in Hasselt.
The Belgian rider narrowly pipped Stybar in the gallop to the line, with Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) one second behind in third place and Telnet Fidea’s Tom Meeusen a further nine seconds back in fourth.
After a hard-fought victory, Pauwels is now a clear twelve points ahead of Stybar in the series, and 21 ahead of Nys. “It’s a lot,” he said afterwards. “It looks very good for the overall classification, although there are still races ahead. Tomorrow is Gavere [where the Superprestige race will be held – ed]. It is another course that suits me well. Hopefully I can win after taking second place there last year.”
Run off in good weather and on a very fast course, it was always going to be hard for the strongest riders to split things up. A crash on the second lap caused the biggest damage, with Radomir Simunek (BCKP-Powerplus) timing things wrong trying to bunny-hop tree trunks. Those ahead of him got by without incident, but the Czech rider hit the dirt and also brought Mariusz Gil (Baboco) and Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea) down. His forks snapped and he had to scoop up his bike and run onwards; meanwhile those who would finish in the first four disappeared off into the distance, as did Klaas Vantornout (Sunweb-Revor) and Dieter Vanthourenhout (BKCP-Powerplus).
Heading towards an intermediate sprint offering bonus points, Nys hit the jets in the sand pit and dragged Pauwels and Stybar clear. The latter won that gallop ahead of Pauwels, who responded by pulling slightly ahead towards the end of lap three.
Stybar was the strongest of the chasers and once he got across, the two leaders eased back somewhat and allowed the other four to catch up. Vantornout and Vanthourenhout were having the most difficulties and hung on for dear life as the others fought it out just ahead of them.
Bart Aernouts (Rabobank-Giant – Offroad Team) succeeded in getting across on lap seven, overtaking Vantornout, but then ploughed into the tree trunks and took the other rider down.
Two laps later Nys hit the accelerator in the sand pit and split the lead group up. Stybar was best able to go with him, while Pauwels lost contact for a while. He chased hard to get back on, passing a tiring Meeusen. All four were back together on the last lap, Meeusen somehow managing to stay upright after clipping a tree trunk obstacle. They raced onto towards finishing straight together, where they fought it out for the win.
Meeusen had nothing left and sat up as the sprint played out, while Nys also realised he didn’t have the legs. Pauwels had made sure he was first around the final corner and the advantage that gave him saw him hold off Stybar by half a wheel, thus extending his lead at the top.
The latter had mixed feelings after the finish. “I’m very happy with this second place, even if naturally it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth,” he said. “It’s never nice to lose in the sprint. However today Pauwels was very strong and he deserved this victory.
“It was a fast and fun cross even though along the route there were no stretches where you could really push things to try and make a difference. Now Pauwels has a good advantage in the rankings for the GVA- Trofee, but the season still has a long way to go and anything can happen.”
Many of the same riders will fight it out in tomorrow’s Superprestige race in Asper-Gavere. Pauwels will try to take another win there, while Sybar, Nys and the others will try to take revenge for today.
The next Gazet van Antwerpen Trophy is on December 17th in Essen. Until then, Pauwels can aim for success in the other major events.